What does a major cultural landmark bring to a city, and how do the people who live around it help shape its future? On October 9, 2026, The Block Museum of Art welcomed journalist Natalie Y. Moore and historian Leslie M. Harris for a conversation about the Obama Presidential Center and its place in Chicago’s […]
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How do images shape the way we experience a city? On September 30, 2026, The Block Museum of Art welcomed art historian Greg Foster-Rice for the exhibition keynote for Picturing the Modern Metropolis: Prints and Photographs from The Block’s Collection. Drawing on works in the exhibition, Foster-Rice explored how artists capture urban life and influence […]
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The Block Museum’s collection is a resource for looking closely, asking questions, and thinking with others. In a recorded talk presented with Northwestern’s Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement, three artworks open new ways to consider Vigil, George Saunders’s novel and the 2026–27 Campus Reading Program selection. The works do not illustrate the book. They bring […]
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In May 2026, The Block Museum hosted an online conversation about Sol LeWitt’s Wall Drawing #215 (1973). Erica DiBenedetto, curator at the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a scholar of LeWitt’s work, joined Block Academic Curator Corinne Granof to discuss the wall drawings as a practice: how they are made, why LeWitt […]
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On April 11, 2026, The Block Museum of Art hosted the Diné in Focus Photography Collective for a conversation on photography, representation, ethics, and contemporary life across the Navajo Nation. The event was held alongside Teresa Montoya’s exhibition Tó Łitso (Yellow Water): Ten Years after the Gold King Mine Spill and featured Teresa Montoya (Diné), […]
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On February 21, 2026, The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University hosted a keynote conversation in conjunction with the exhibition Hamdia Traoré: Des marabouts de Djenné and Muslim Portraiture in Mali.
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On April 2, 2026, The Block Museum of Art hosted an online collection talk exploring artworks from the museum’s collection in dialogue with the biography Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson by Tourmaline. Led by Curatorial Associate Llewyn Blossfeld and facilitated by Engagement Coordinator and Educator Isabella Ko, the program considered how […]
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On February 7, 2026, The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University opened Tó Łitso (Yellow Water): Ten Years after the Gold King Mine Spill, an exhibition by artist and anthropologist Teresa Montoya (Diné). The evening featured a keynote address by Montoya, followed by a conversation with art historian Carl Fuldner. The program was introduced […]
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On February 25, 2026, The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University hosted artist Jonathan Castillo for a conversation about his ongoing photographic project Immigrant Owned. He spoke with Myrna García, Associate Professor of Instruction in Latinx Studies, about the stories, processes, and questions that drive his work across Chicago and beyond. “I want people […]
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On March 5, 2026, The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University hosted the online conversation “From Lagos to Bamako: Biennales and Global Conversations in African Photography.” The webinar explored the influential role of the Rencontres de Bamako (Bamako Encounters)—Africa’s longest-running photography biennale—in shaping artistic exchange, professional networks, and critical discourse surrounding contemporary photography across […]
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